Higher exosomal tau, amyloid-beta 42 and IL-10 are associated with mild TBIs and chronic symptoms in military personnel.
Jessica Gill, Maja Mustapic, Ramon Diaz-Arrastia and 7 others
PMID 29913077WHAT IT FOUND
In deployed military personnel, those with mild TBI had higher exosomal tau, Aβ42 and IL-10 than controls.
Tau was related to post-concussive symptoms; IL-10 was related to PTSD. This is a research biomarker finding, not a diagnostic or treatment result.
Key findings
01Participants with mild TBI had higher exosomal tau, Aβ42 and IL-10 than controls without TBI.
02In the mild TBI group, post-concussive symptom score was the only symptom measure related to exosomal tau.
03In the mild TBI group, PTSD score was related to exosomal IL-10, while post-concussive symptom score was not.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The sample was small and mostly young men, so the findings may not generalise. Mild TBI status relied on self-reported injury events and loss of consciousness, which can be inaccurate years after deployment. The study measured exosomal markers and symptoms at one time point, so it cannot show whether the markers came before, after, or alongside symptoms. Controls were also military personnel and may have had unreported head trauma from sports or combat training. The time since last mild TBI varied widely among participants. Some demographic data were missing. The markers were not tested as a clinical diagnostic or prognostic tool.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The article is listed as NIH intramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use these exosomal markers to diagnose mild TBI or predict chronic symptoms in a patient. The study was cross-sectional, used self-reported injury and symptom scales, and did not test whether the markers identify injury or guide treatment.